Reel to reel | Week of August 29, 2013

Selena Gomez and Ethan Hawke in the same movie? Call the cops.none | Boulder Weekly

The Act of Killing

When approached to make a film about their role in an Indonesian genocide, Anwar Congo and his friends eagerly comply — but their idea of being in a movie is not to provide reflective testimony, but to dance their way through musical numbers, twist arms in film noir gangster scenes and gallop across the prairies as yodeling cowboys. At Denver Film Society and Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres

Ain’t Them Bodies Saints

The gritty landscape of 1970s Texas Hill Country is the backdrop for this mood-drenched collision of love and crime. After his pregnant wife makes one false move during a bloody shootout, a bank robber faces a 25-year sentence that destroys his dreams of a family life. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

Anaconda

Rated R for ridiculous. Bad Movie. Good comedy. Have fun. At SIE FilmCenter.

The reinvention of Verdi’s masterpiece, La Traviata, as sung by world-famous French coloratura soprano Natalie Dessay, is the subject of this documentary. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Blackfish

The documentary Blackfish unravels the complexities of our relationship with orca whales, employing the story of notorious performing whale Tilikum, who has taken the lives of several people while in captivity. So what exactly went wrong? At Chez Artiste and Century. — Landmark Theatres.

The Bling Ring

Oscar-winning filmmaker Sofia Coppola takes us inside the world of these teens, where their youthful naivete and excitement is amplified by today’s culture of celebrity and luxury brand obsession. The members of the Bling Ring introduce us to temptations that any teenager would find hard to resist. And what starts out as youthful fun spins out of control, revealing a sobering view of our modern culture. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Blue Jasmine

After everything in her life falls to pieces, elegant New York socialite Jasmine moves into her sister Ginger’s modest apartment in San Francisco to try to pull herself back together again. Rated PG. At Esquire, Colony Square and Century. — Landmark Theatres

Closed Circuit

In this suspense thriller, two former lovers wind up on the same defense team representing the only surviving member of a terrorist cell that attacked a London market. Rated R. At Century and Chez Artiste.

Crystal Fairy

In this freewheeling comedy from the director of The Maid, Michael Cera (Arrested Development, Superbad) stars as Jamie, a shaggy, boorish young American traveling through Chile. While searching for a rare hallucinogen — the famed San Pedro cactus — with a trio of Chilean brothers, Jamie invites a mysterious hippie (Gaby Hoffmann) along for the ride, but her free-spirited personality quickly clashes with his self-absorption. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Cutie and the Boxer

A reflection on love, sacrifice and the creative spirit, this candid New York story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of renowned “boxing” painter Ushio Shinohara and his artist wife, Noriko. At Chez Artiste. — Landmark Theatres

Despicable Me 2

It’s time for more Minion madness in this animated sequel. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Drinking Buddies

The ever-prolific Joe Swanberg (Hannah Takes the Stairs) delivers this seductive romantic comedy, a departure from his previous work. Kate (Olivia Wilde, Tron: Legacy) and Luke (Jake Johnson, Safety Not Guaranteed) are co-workers at a Chicago brewery, where they spend their days drinking and flirting. They’re perfect for each other, except that they’re both in relationships with other people. At Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

Elysium

In the future, two classes of people exist: the very rich who live a beautiful life on a space station called Elysium, and the very poor who carry on a dreadful existence down on Earth. Rated R. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Free the Mind

Professor Richard J. Davidson, one of the world’s leading neuroscientists, took the Dalai Lama’s advice to apply the same rigorous methods he used to study depression and anxiety to the study of compassion and kindness. Dr. Davidson, who was named one of Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in 2006, did just that, and the results of his studies at Wisconsin’s Center for Investigating Healthy Minds are portrayed in this fascinating new documentary. At Boedecker. — Boedecker Theater

Fruitvale Station

Fruitvale Station follows the true story of Oscar Grant (Michael B. Jordan), a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who wakes up on the morning of Dec. 31, 2008, and feels something in the air. Not sure what it is, he takes it as a sign to get a head start on his resolutions: being a better son, a better partner to his girlfriend and a better father. At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

Getaway

A former racecar driver’s wife is kidnapped. With the help of a hacker, he must return to his driving exploits if his wife is to be saved. Really. Rated PG-13. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Armed with nothing more than twigs, their imaginations and a simple set of rules, a group of 12-year-olds engaged in a lively game of Capture the Flag in the neighborhood woods start dangerously blurring the lines between make-believe and reality. Rocks = Grenades. Trees = Control towers. Sticks = Submachine guns. The youthful innocence of the game gradually takes on a different tone as the quest for victory pushes the boundaries of friendship. At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

In a World…

Carol, a struggling vocal coach, strikes it big in the cutthroat world of movie-trailer voiceovers, only to find herself in direct competition with the industry’s reigning king — her father. At Chez Artiste and Century. — Landmark Theatres

Homemade superheroes return to the screen as Red Mist plots his revenge against Kick-Ass and Hit-Girl, who get help from friendly imitators. Rated R. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

Lee Daniels’ The Butler

Forest Whitaker stars as a White House butler whose 34-year tenure sees incredible social change. Based on the life of Eugene Allen. Rated PG-13. At Century, Colony Square and Twin Peaks.

The Lifeguard

Leigh (Kristen Bell) is almost 30, and living a seemingly perfect life in New York. But when her career and love life both come crashing down, she flees to her suburban hometown and regresses right back into teenage life behavior. She moves into her old room with her parents, hangs around with friends who never left town, and reclaims her high school job as a condo-complex lifeguard. But as Leigh enjoys shirking off adult life and responsibilities, and enters into an illicit affair, she begins a chain reaction that affects those closest to her. At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

The Lone Ranger

Like Armie Hammer in the film, this remake of the old TV series just keeps coming back to life. Johnny Depp is Tonto. PG-13. At Colony Square.

Monsters University

This prequel to Monsters, Inc. follows Mike and Sulley through their scare training. Rated G. At Colony Square.

The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones

A teen girl discovers she’s the descendant of a line of half-human, half-angel warriors who prevent demons from destroying the world. Rated PG-13. At Colony Square, Century and Twin Peaks.

One Direction: This is Us

This is one of those films that takes you on the road with the band so you get to see them as real people with real emotions, problems and personalities. If that’s not enough, you can watch it in 3-D. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

Brian De Palma returns to the sleek, sly, seductive territory of Dressed To Kill with an erotic corporate thriller fueled by sex, ambition, image, envy and the dark, murderous side of Passion. The film stars Rachel McAdams and Noomi Rapace as two rising female executives in a multinational corporation whose fierce competition to rise up the ranks is about to turn literally cutthroat. At SIE FilmCenter. — Denver Film Society

In this sequel, Percy teams up with his other-worldly friends to go after the Golden Fleece. Rated PG. At Twin Peaks, Colony Square and Century.

The Spectacular Now

With sly humor and an intensity of feeling, The Spectacular Now creates a vivid, three-dimensional portrait of youth confronting the funny, thrilling and perilous business of modern love and adulthood. At Century and Mayan. — Landmark Theatres

Star Trek: Into Darkness/World War Z

Sci-fi geeks night out. Watch them both and make a full evening of it. At Colony Square.